28/05/2014

In the event, professionals in the health and ICT presented their views on innovation in medicine. “we need higher education in health", they say.

During the third day of the 21th Feira Hospitalar, which took place in São Paulo, at the Expo Center Norte, the seminar Digital Health treated the challenges of technology in the area of health and on the implementation the challenges of telecare industry in the current scenario.

The matter was discussed among several professionals belonging to the areas of health and ICT, who witnessed a debate between Dr. Heider Pinto, Secretary of Labor Management and Health Education, Dr. Puccini Paulo, Municipal Deputy of the Secretary of Health, Prof. Dra. Alexandra Monteiro Coordinator of the Núcleo de Telessaúde of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), journalist Fabiane Leite, Professor Dr. Francisco Camps, Executive Secretary of the UNASUS, Luiz Ary Messina Coordinator of the RUTE, and Professor Dr. Claudio Souza, Coordinator of the Núcleo de Telessaúde of the UFMG.

On the one hand, there is still resistance from the medical regarding the full implementation of telecare in the institutions, due to the possible loss of professional contact with the patient. On the other hand, innovation in the sector is essential in optimizing resources, time and costs for both the hospital and for the patients themselves.

According to the IT specialist and project manager in Gesaworld do Brasil, Maria Tereza Dal Monte Gonçalves, telecare is important in the current scenario: “The objectives of this technology are undoubtedly to support and expand access to health, correcting inequities and injustices. As Dr. Claudius states, ‘new technologies that are coming to try to solve old problems’. Therefore, their benefits are many, including improved primary healthcare, preventing patients from ‘wandering’ through the healthcare network without need, and creating a halo of trust and respect between them and the health professionals who serve in their own place of residence", said Gonçalves adding that there is also the possibility of refreshing medical professionals and one of this technology’s main benefits is that it helps to do so.

“We have the example of courses offered in the UFMG, including a new Masters in Telemedicine recently approved by CAPES and announced at the seminar, as well as other Electrocardiomiography Course and a Training Course on Malaria, for example, extremely useful for health professionals who work in regions prone to this disease”, she said.

According to Gonçalves, currently the main challenge is facing the lack of broadband in remote regions, which hinders the communication in the sector. “We are missing an infrastructure that supports these new technologies. There is a need for investment, especially in the states of the northern region such as the Amazon”, she stressed.

Although the matter still finds hard resistance from the medical professionals, information systems will probably evolve and will be connected to the Internet, allowing data to be shared safely and, according to Gonçalves, created through open standards.